SAN ANTONIO — After running the table in last year’s In-Season Tournament en route to winning the inaugural NBA Cup, the Lakers got off to a strong start in their request to claim back-to-back trophies.
Anthony Davis had a season-high 40 points and LeBron James recorded his fourth consecutive triple-double as the Lakers beat the San Antonio Spurs, 120-115, on Friday night at Frost Bank Center in their first NBA Cup Group Play game.
Davis shot 14 for 26 from the field (2 for 4 from 3-point range) and went 10 for 12 from the free-throw line to go with 12 rebounds, two blocked shots and two assists – the second one leading to a James layup that gave the Lakers a 118-115 lead with 25 seconds left.
James, who finished with 15 points, 16 rebounds and 12 assists, made a pair of free throws with 11 seconds remaining to seal the victory for the Lakers (8-4).
James’ triple-double streak is the longest of his Hall of Fame career.
Austin Reaves added 19 points, six assists and three rebounds, knocking down a 3-pointer with 1:59 remaining to give the Lakers a 114-113 lead during a back-and-forth finish.
The Lakers got off to a slow start, allowing the Spurs to score nine unanswered points to open the game as part of a 18-6 run in the first 5½ minutes.
Davis, averaging a career-high 31.1 points, stepped up his play from there. He scored 14 of his 16 first-quarter points in the final 7:07 of the period to help the Lakers grab a 31-30 lead going into the second.
Max Christie, who was back in the rotation for the first time in more than a week, D’Angelo Russell and Gabe Vincent provided the Lakers with a boost off the bench.
Christie finished with 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting to go with a pair of steals.
“Really happy for Max,” Redick said. “We’ve had two situations over the last week where a guy has been out of the rotation and then gotten back into the rotation. In Cam [Reddish’s] case, it was starting. And then for Max to not be in the rotation for three games to have the night he had, I’m just happy for him. It’s obvious to me as his coach that he’s capable of doing that every night because I’ve seen it for months. And we’ve had a number of discussions I told him, ‘if you play that way, because I’ve seen you do it, I don’t want to take you off the court.’ The way that he fronted [Victor] Wembanyama when we went to red one through five [defensive switching], just completely disrupted their sort of half-court rhythm.
Russell had 13 points, six assists and three steals, while Vincent had six points and three steals.
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Rookie wing Dalton Knecht started in place of forward Rui Hachimura, who was sidelined because of a sprained right ankle, and finished with 14 points.
Spurs second-year star Victor Wembanyama had 28 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and a pair of blocked shots, but the Lakers defended the 7-foot-3 Frenchman better as the game wore on after he scored nine points in the first quarter. Wembanyama was coming off a career-best 50-point game on Wednesday.
The Lakers will travel to New Orleans for a matchup against the Pelicans on Saturday night.